D’Anza Rodriguez is the Director of School Transformation, Secondary Literacy, at t the Partnership for LA Schools. D’Anza received her Master’s Degree in Education through UCLA’s Principal Leadership Institute. In her role, she works with school teams to positively impact student achievement results in literacy at the secondary level. — It is the fall of...
Joe Chang is the Chief People & Operating Officer at the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools. He was the first in his family to earn his bachelor’s degree from UCLA, as well as a Master of Business Administration. “Under the sky, under the heavens, there is but one family.” — Bruce Lee While I am...
Joe Chang is the Chief People & Operating Officer at the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools. He was the first in his family to earn his bachelor’s degree from UCLA, as well as a Master of Business Administration. Previously in my career, I worked in an organization that served a student population that was 99% LatinX....
Joe Chang is the Chief People & Operating Officer at the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools. He was the first in his family to earn his bachelor’s degree from UCLA, as well as a Master of Business Administration. Throughout my career serving predominantly Black and LatinX students, I have been asked this question repeatedly though...
Nell Wickstrom is the Manager of Academic Programs at the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools. She earned her Bachelor of Arts at DePaul University in Chicago and developed a passion for social justice by getting involved in communities through service work. Growing up in suburban Chicago, in a conservative, primarily white, middle-class community, my sexual...
Becca Velasco is the Senior Manager of Strategy & Growth at the Partnership for LA Schools and also co-leads the ProjectLIT Watts Book Club for students at Edwin Markham Middle School. Becca received her Bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Stanford University and her Master of Public Policy from the USC Price School of Public...
Stephanie Hernandez is the Manager of Parent Leadership and Advocacy for the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools. Through her role, she works with parents in support of greater equity in our education system and leadership development. If you asked me in January what one of my most important jobs would be if we went through...
Maria R. Frias is a mother of a 7th grade student at Stevenson College and Career Preparatory. She has been a leader with UPEJ since 2018. As a proud mother of two young boys, I’m always looking for what is best for my children. I have a son in high school and another who attends...
Jeffrey Garrett is the Senior Director of Leadership Development at the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools. He oversees professional learning for principals, assistant principals and instructional leadership teams in our 18 schools, as well as aspiring leader programs. He has experience serving as a middle and high school principal, instructional leadership coach, and high school...
Julija (pronounced Yoo-lee-uh) Zubac is the Manager of Restorative Communities at the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools. She was born in Bosnia-Herzegovina and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Claremont Graduate University. It was the summer of 1997, and you may remember it as the summer when Dr. Dre dropped the Next...
Karlo Silbiger is the Coordinator of College-Going Culture at the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools. He works with teachers, counselors, administrators, parents, and community partners at all 18 schools in the Partnership network to support students in preparing for and transitioning to college after graduation. It’s June 2019. As you walk across the stage to...
Geneviève DeBose Akinnagbe is a National Board Certified teacher and a Literacy Coach for School Transformation at one of the Partnership’s schools — Edwin Markham Middle School. She started her teaching career in 1999 as a sixth grade English Language Arts and Social Studies teacher at Samuel Gompers Middle School in LA Unified. She has...
